Publisher's Summary

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'. The Spectator praised Jeremy Irons' interpretation as 'so accessible, reading Eliot as if finding his words for the first time, grappling with them, relishing them, using them to express feelings that we all share as we struggle to accept, to recognise or relinquish'. Dame Eileen Atkins also appears alongside Jeremy Irons in the reading of 'The Waste Land'.

Critic Reviews

"For such a major poet, Eliot left a fairly sparse body of work, and all his mature poems are here. And while many consider him to be a fairly austere modernist, these readings by Jeremy Irons bring out the human passion (and sometimes the intellectual passion) that lurks in the poems.... His versions are simply more human, as beautifully crafted as the poems themselves." (AudioFile)

The Waste Land. 192221/ The Burial of the Dead22/ A Game of Chess23/ The Fire Sermon24/ Death by Water25/ What the Thunder Said ——26/The Hollow Men. 1925

Ash-Wednesday. 193027/ Because I do not hope to turn again28/ Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-tree29/ At the first turning of the second stair30/ Who walked between the violet and the violet31/. If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent32/ Although I do not hope to turn again

Ariel Poems33/ Journey of the Magi, 192734/ A Song for Simeon. 192835/ Animula, 192936/ Marina, 193037/ The Cultivation of Christmas Trees 1954

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats58/ The Naming of Cats59/ The Old Gumbie Cat60/ Growltiger’s Last Stand61/ The Rum Tum Tugger62/ The Song of the Jellicles63/ Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer64/ Old Deuteronomy65/ The Pekes and the Pollicles66/ Mr. Mistoffeles67/ Macavity: the Mystery Cat68/ Gus: the Theatre Cat69/ Bustopher Jones: the Cat about Town70/ Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat71/ The Ad-dressing of Cats72/ Cat Morgan Introduces Himself

A great recording marred by crappy metadata

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful recording of some of the greatest poetry of the 20th century. But, as often, Audible ruins it with crappy metadata. How do I know which poem is Chapter 1, or Chapter 2, and so on? If I want to find specific poems - such as the Four Quartets - how do I find them? This is simply contempt for listeners. I feel cheated.